Only the Washington Nationals had a worse team ERA than the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL this past season. Brewers' starters were the worst in the entire major leagues, sporting a pathetic 5.37 ERA. Obviously, something needs to be done for a team with such a high-powered offense, in order to remain competitive. Thus, the Brewers are reportedly making a strong push for respected pitching coach Rick Peterson. Peterson has worked with former A's and current Brewers manager Ken Macha in the past, as he was in Oakland from 1998-2003, where he oversaw the development of All-Stars Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. He then took a job with the Mets -- which didn't turn out near as well and concluded during the 2008 season.
The Brewers lost former pitching coach Mike Maddux to the Rangers prior to 2009, and the results for both the Rangers' and Brewers' respective pitching staffs was evident. Thus, the Brewers are reportedly strongly zeroing in on bringing in Peterson to help shore up the staff -- namely the starting rotation. They appear confident the signing will take place very soon.
Despite the tumultuous ending in New York, Peterson is still known to be a solid developer of mechanics in young hurlers, so his hiring would be a good one for Milwaukee. Yovani Gallardo, the 23-year-old ace of the Brewers, has the stuff to be an elite pitcher. Manny Parra, 26, endured an awful 2009 after a promising 2008. He's far too young and has far too much talent to not benefit from the presence of a pitching coach like Peterson. Even the veterans could use a hand, as Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush and Braden Looper (after leaving St. Louis and the tutelage of Dave Duncan) were all drastically worse in 2009 than they were in 2008.
